Writing Blog

Night time blabbering 259

I came to a realization that the stuff I am doing is not as what I thought them to be. Let’s face it, this is going to be another rant post, so you can skip this, or stay tuned to see a Slavic guy losing his shit.

0K, first thing first. There are not many people who read. This means, that my efforts with the YouTube channel to promote reading and my stories has failed. Now, I am in this business for a month or so and nothing comes that quickly. This said, I am really running low on inspiration and hope to achieve something.

Yes, I enjoy writing, but I can’t live from that. Not now, but maybe in the future if I finally break the ice. And to do that, I must say that nothing makes it any easy. For a writer to live, he needs to be doing something else for money and keep writing as a hobby. I respect that up to some point. It is a long way up and to get there, there are some rugged cliffs you need to climb over. After you’ve done that, its smooth sails from there on out.

Me? I am really far from that and god damn it, I am tired.

I wrote a New Year’s resolution and so far, I got nowhere with my plans, again. I can’t figure out where am I doing wrong. But there is a simple answer to that. It’s not that I am making a fault content and that I am not trying enough, or that I am not being productive enough. You know what is the problem? People don’t read enough and they are not that interested in reading. It’s that simple. People I talk to are not into books and to find people who are into books, I really need to get going and perform a miracle.

To do some freelance, I can’t get my UpWork profile running, because that platform is overly saturated with ghostwriters. My skills are not supreme, therefore I am not in the league to compete with that stiff competition.

So, what do I do? I make a Patreon, but catch this – I am not as successful as others. Again, I preach to the wrong crowd and that’s why I am destined to fail.

This said I decided to gather all of the best stories from my blog, stuff them together and work on that draft to produce a good quality collection of short stories. After I do that, I’ll be actively looking for a publisher, someone who is trustworthy and tries to set up my life.

Any pieces of advice and suggestion are most welcome. If you are a writer, I’d like to hear your story to publishing. If you used CreateSpace and Amazon, let me know how did that go and what’s the catch to make it out there. If you are a freelancer, what is a good way to start and what is a reliable platform? If you are a manager and promoter, share some advice on how to reach a bigger audience and where to look for them.

I am really desperate here guys. I don’t know if I should just stop what I was doing and really try something completely different. I’m seriously considering to stop writing. And don’t encourage me to write. I am not asking for compassion here. I ask for guidance.

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26 thoughts on “Night time blabbering 259”

Shawn, fantastic and strong comrades ready at your side! Love you man! You will make it. My art gurus told me to draw the mundane, to sharpen my skills. Trying writing about common things in your house hold. New questions will lead to answers there. A powerful idea for your writing. I enjoy reading about your life.

glad i saw this. i have been really caught up with work hardly getting anytime. it was your turn on mental health reblog, i came here and saw this.

first of all, remember we started here around the same time?? like a few more of us, we came here around the same time. we have seen each other’s progress. and in a lot of ways we are in the same boat. i am not going to give you any motivational speech so will jump to important stuff.

yes. people don’t read. i am considered a psycho in some circles because i read. so we are selling a product we make years of effort to build a ground for and still there is a high change people will thing 1000 times to pay $1 for it. don’t we do that too?? this is the truth of writing and publishing business. accept it.

so you to need a stable job besides relying on writing, it takes years to build your name and even then its hard it will earn enough to pay utilities.

i didn’t make upwork or fiverr, it’s a personal choice. but even there i heard it takes time to start getting assignments. and prepare for that clients are not that kind at times. but don’t give hope on that, a friend of mine got nothing for months and suddenly she was getting plenty of jobs there.

your skills are supreme!

i tried different platforms too and could get following and all. instagram kinda works but i fear my work getting stolen there. otherwise comparatively if you have the hashtags right you can built considerable following.

compiling your short stories and try to publish it is a good idea. you might wanna look into self publishing. i m right now focusing on amazon and its shitload of work believe me. as i myself dont really have a solid guidance i am really studying the whole thing. it’s a lot of work. but you cant wait for a publisher, who knows your book becomes a bestseller on amazon.

don’t give up on any idea. trust me on this.

i was in your place few months back and i literally tried everything. and guess what paid?? mystery shopping (i haven’t gotten those $4 transfred yet) and surveys. look into online surveys (i got total $27 on that) but at that time even this was precious, and still is. it might sound like a joke to someone that i worked hard to earn $30 but at least i know in crisis situation what actually pays??

if your writing isnt selling, try illustration. who knows you start making money on that front. you are talented. the idea is to keep working.

I know what you must be going through at this moment.. I can totally relate to the frustration and the demotivation that comes with no results even after putting so much effort.. People want others to read their stories but no one really want to read other’s stories.. But then telling a story is what makes a writer truly happy.. and again, to tell a story we need an audience first..

I agree with Rudra here, Instagram is a great way to promote your work and get few new readers.. so is other social networking sites but in order to do so one need to have some basic information about the hashtags that are in trend and also how to gather more audience.. you can learn it through numerous videos on YouTube.. This will surely help bringing back some confidence..

Now, coming to self publishing.. Just like any other platform Kindle self publishing (which is the most widely online publishing platform) requires bringing people to the book so you will have to market your book like anything.. from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram to any other social media sites you can find.. in the end it comes down to your ability to market your book.. again, you will find many videos on YouTube that will help you on the same..

You should find a day job that will take care of the bills while you work on the other aspects of your writing career..

I don’t know if this makes much sense but I hope that you continue writing and cause YOU’RE A GOOD WRITER WITH THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME GREAT..

Promote your stories on Instagram. Just take an excerpt from them and share it on Instagram. Also choose an appropriate theme that could go with your writing. This way you can build your audience and then consider self publishing a book. I mean through hashtags and appropriate theme with a piece of writing many people come. It will just take your time and energy and nothing else. 😊

All, I can say is that process takes time but it’s worth the time because you will end up getting real readers for your writing or you might get publishers offering you to publish your own book. It’s up to you.

I understand where you are coming from with this. It’s hard, no doubt. Writing for me is just a hobby, if I was trying to make a living at this I would be living in a cardboard box.

I believe most writers have a “day” job to get by. If that is what you have to do, then do it. The challenge is not giving up on your dream or your writing. I think a lot of people get so bogged down with work and all the other everyday bullshit that their dreams get pushed aside. You strike me as someone with enough dedication, that wouldn’t happen to you. And like Michael mentioned, having a bit of money coming in would take some stress off of you.

If I was in your position, I would self-publish a collection of short stories. And if you have enough stories that you like, I would go ahead and publish two separate collections. The more books you have available, the more likely you are to bring in more money from book sales.

I was seriously considering self-publishing. I’ve heard some stories about it where it din’t worked out. It means that I’ll be doing a ton of promotion, saturate my blog with open calls to buy my book/novel, and to generate a steady income, that would mean I’d need to attract a lot of attention by posting generic stuff and trendy headline. That would be the main problem, promotion and marketing. Without an army of people to do that, again, you really tie your hands in a knot. I am looking for options. Thanks Chad. You’ve helped a lot.

Unfortunately, it’s a common issue, and lots of creatives talk about the same things, worry about the same problems. Most give up at this stage.
And most do have another source of income – until … well, if …

I’m still waiting. And still working on it. I think you should, too. But maybe get another job and write in the ‘off’ time, take time also to improve the skills, the editing process, the structure and format of stories and movies, see where what you do could fit it. Learn to shape it to a particular ‘audience’ – don’t ask me, I’m still learning!
But persistence counts. Determination. Guts. Talent is nothing without the hard work that goes into mastering the craft where the talent shines. Just look at professional sportspeople – how long does it take them to get to where they are? How much work does it take? How often can they take a break from their practice, practice, practice?
Persist.
And maybe get a job that helps pay for the things you need to keep up the love of story.

Do u love doing what you do? You could put a picture of a dog eating its own shit on facebook at it will get 10000 likes. Pour your heart into a story and you will get some likes and fingers crossed a comment but did people realy read it?

Do what makes you happy I say, and be proud of what you create and if people dont like it then they can always go look at dogs eating poo.

Yeah man, I love this stuff. I have no problem with it, but I am unemployed and I really haven’t achieved myself. The time runs fast and I’m not in a very nice place right now. For two year since I started this blog, my goals have been decreasing to a more realistic level. And what is that level? Well, people leave a like, read and move on. Fair enough, but what have I done to live better? Have I really tried to make a difference? Have I tried to get a paying job, doesn’t matter if I am going to clean some toilet, but at the end, I’ll have some cash.

I mean, you’ve been of great help. All I’ve earned on Patreon, I am saving it for the novel. I don’t spend that stuff.

But i must find some other thing to do, because what I’ve tried is not working. I don’t mean to disrespect dude. I freaking love you, your work and friendship we have. I think you may misunderstood my point here.